Paul Merson claims current West Brom squad could blitz the Championship next season
Paul Merson claims the current West Brom squad will stick together and could take the Championship by storm next season.
After a couple of stunning wins versus Chelsea and Southampton recently Albion were brought back down to earth with a shattering 3-0 loss against Leicester City on Thursday.
That result looks to have all but sealed their Premier League relegation, but speaking on Sky Sports Soccer Saturday [12:00, 24/04/21] ex-Aston Villa midfielder Merson says it’s not all doom and gloom at The Hawthorns.
“You think Jeff [Stelling], the three teams that are probably going to be going down, Sheffield United, West Brom and Fulham – woah – it’s going to be hard for all the other teams next season,” he said.
“Because that’s probably the three strongest teams I’ve seen come down that are ready for the Championship.
“They are not going to be losing 10 or 12 players, these squads look like they are going to be together and I think that’s why the Championship this season is massive because if you don’t get up this year, I think you’re up against it.”
Loan exodus
We’re not completely downtrodden on the make-up of our squad and our ability to challenge next season, but we think Merson has made a clear oversight here.
If our exact squad right now lines up in the Championship we would walk the league, sure.
But most of our key players at the moment are only contracted on a temporary basis and they are all likely to leave in the summer.
Okay Yokuslu has been a revelation since his mid-season loan move from Celta Vigo and he has formed a formidable midfield trio with fellow loan recruits Ainsley-Maitland Niles and Conor Gallagher, but there’s little to no chance of any of those three sticking around.
Mbaye Diagne has had mixed fortunes since his January move but he will also probably move on, and that’s four first-team starters out of the equation already.
That’s before we move onto the likes of Sam Johnstone and Matheus Pereira who are both likely to court interest after promising Premier League seasons.
The core of the squad is strong by second-tier standards, but surely it’s not one of the strongest sides in Merson’s lifetime.
In other West Brom news, ‘Horrendous’ star dropped among three big changes in our predicted XI v Aston Villa.
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